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Dex Green's broad range of musical talent has opened many doors. He’s built a cross-genre community and a name for himself in Nashville as a producer, engineer, and mixer. He’s studied at Manhattan School of Music, seen his songwriting on the Billboard charts, and had his work nominated for a Grammy. He's also a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer, drawing from influences across jazz, punk rock, and ‘70s rhythm and blues. But that same versatility may be to blame for the fact that you haven't seen Green's name on album covers: Until recently, his creative expertise has mostly been shared through his work for other artists.  

"My own record is something I talked about doing for a long time," says Green, who will release his debut album Imaginary War on June 28 via 3Sirens Music Group. "Making records for other people has been my core focus for most of my adult life”. But when he lost his mother in 2022, he felt a renewed urgency toward sharing his own music, even as his work as a collaborator continued. "My mom worked to afford me every opportunity to pursue music," Green explains. She'd always encouraged him to share the songs he'd written over the years. "When she passed away, there was a shift in my whole approach to my time here. In a lot of ways, this album is for her." 

Imaginary War is a solo effort in just about every sense of the word—Green wrote every song, plays every instrument, and sings lead—but it’s about as far from a “singer-songwriter” album as it gets. Green was heavily influenced by visual storytelling and cinema; Alain Resnais' '60s French New Wave film Last Year at Marienbad was on constant loop during the recording process. Green explains, “The visual-to-audio connection was a happy accident and ended up becoming a deep well of inspiration in the writing process.” Many of the songs came together as instrumental tracks first: He’d piece the puzzle together layer by layer, often getting as far as choosing a song title before ultimately penning lyrics and a melody that fit the soundscape he’d crafted.  

"I made a band record by myself," he says with a laugh. 

It’s no surprise that Green would take pride in each element of his debut album when he’s been quietly helping other artists bring their ideas to life for decades. He got his start in Nashville writing and producing commercial jingles at a local studio—an experience that paid the bills, yes, but also sparked a passion for genre-hopping. Over time, his creative impulses and technical expertise attracted the interest of a growing network of musicians. His resume boasts collaborations with Elvis Costello, Margo Price, Nicole Atkins, Collective Soul, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and more—including a Grammy nom for his work mixing and engineering Shemekia Copeland's 2022 album Done Come Too Far. And he’s enjoyed a long-time partnership with The Grahams’ 3Sirens Music Group as a go-to producer.  

"I'm not a genre-specific record producer. I love bouncing around all over the place," he explains. "I find that the most rewarding situations in the record-making process for me are when I can get in and get my hands dirty with the artist—to help them on a trajectory that feels honest and real in terms of who they are." 

His role as supporter and collaborator dates back as far as his childhood in Florence, South Carolina. "My mother sang in local theater productions in our small town," he says. He took to cello in elementary school orchestra, and eventually learned to read music on drums and play percussion in the pit while his mother took the stage. "It was really just a fun way for us to get to do stuff together."  

His interests broadened as he became a teenager, finding a home in skateboarding and punk rock before fully immersing himself in jazz. After high school, he moved to New York for music school—an experience that allowed him to more fully explore his love for jazz while also experimenting with a multitude of genres, instruments, and techniques. 

Green’s poppier sensibilities and dry sense of humor shine on lead single “It's Only The End of the World,” a trippy piano number that invites the listener to relish each fleeting moment. "Here She Comes" reflects on a failed relationship with an echoing chorus that feels as dizzying and surreal as an all-encompassing romance. And “Days Fly By,” the centerpiece of the record, blends futuristic synths with elements of Louisiana rhythm and blues for a sound that's distinctly of the moment.  

Altogether, Imaginary War is an album built for mileage, whether the trip you’re taking is a cross-country drive or something a bit more psychedelic. "I look at this record as light poetry against a heavy musical backdrop," Green explains. "There's a lot of room for interpretation. I hope it means a little something different to everybody."